New data shows that, just as our meteoric rise in home values sent our nation’s real estate market topsy-turvy, so has the rapid cooling that the market has seen in the past several months. In new reports from ATTOM and MetroTex Association of Realtors, the number of foreclosure filings has increased while the average price of a North Texas home has decreased.
ATTOM’s data shows that a total of 185,580 U.S. properties were subject to foreclosure filings in the last six months — up 13 percent from the first half of 2022 and up 185 percent from the first half of 2021. While this wave of defaults has nothing on the 1.3 million foreclosure filings recorded at the beginning of the Great Recession, it could be a sign of bigger worries for the real estate industry.
“Similar to the first half of 2022, foreclosure activity across the United States maintained its upward trajectory, gradually approaching pre-pandemic levels in the first half of 2023,” stated Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM. “Although overall foreclosure activity remains below historical norms, the notable surge in foreclosure starts indicates that we may continue to see a rise in foreclosure activity in the coming years.”
In Texas, 13,869 foreclosure filings originated in the first half of 2023, accounting for 0.12 percent of the state’s housing units or one out of every 824 homes in the state. That’s an increase of 20.32 percent from January to June of 2022 and an increase of 245.69 percent since the same period in 2021.
Likewise, new data from MetroTex Association of Realtors shows that home sales and home prices are both down from June 2022. Last month, 8,750 homes were sold in the North Texas region, a decline of 4 percent from the same period last year. Listings spent an average of 41 days on the market, which is almost twice the time from a year prior. Sales prices are down, too, with the average sales price for June of 2023 coming in at $520,289. That’s 3 percent lower than the average sales price from June of 2022.
Higher mortgage interest rates and low inventory have put a ceiling on sales that is tough to break through. MetroTex President Belinda Epps believes that these two factors have tempered the market.
“While the sales and pricing numbers do not look as good as 2022,” Epps said, “we are still seeing the need for housing with the increase in the rental market.”
According to MetroTex figures, the North Texas single-family rental market recorded a 114 percent rise in single-family rentals listed and a 26 percent increase in homes leased.
